Chapter 285 - 166: Death Mist
When the Northern Expedition Legion attacked the Sniper Corps, a small plain lay between the mountain range holding their camp and the forested mountains to the rear.
It had an entrance and an exit, one leading to the Western Plains and the other to the forest behind. Flanked by mountains on both sides, the area formed a bottleneck.
The Northern Expedition Legion’s soldiers, having retreated from their camp, were now all gathered in the rear section of this small plain.
"What’s going on up there?"
When Ah Pu saw that the column had stopped moving, he hurried to the Vanguard Army with the Core Lords and heroes.
"My lord..."
The Vanguard Army’s commander explained that Steel-backed Porcupines were blocking their path. Ah Pu surveyed the ground, which was littered with quills. He watched his Mages continuously fire Elemental Missiles and saw the occasional counter-volley of quills slam into their Defense Shields. The scene felt strangely familiar.
"Aren’t those the units of Lord Lin Yu, the one ranked second in the Legion Duels?"
One of the accompanying Core Lords suddenly realized who the porcupines blocking their path belonged to.
Ah Pu immediately recalled it as well. A video of Lin Yu’s battle against Yun Qihao had been widely circulated among the lords. Before Ah Pu had parasitized Mei Yuan and taken complete control, Mei Yuan himself had watched it at least ten times.
However, as a worldly and knowledgeable Eye Demon, he wasn’t interested in the battle videos stored in Mei Yuan’s memory and was usually too lazy to access them, which was why it hadn’t immediately come to mind.
Recalling the footage from memory, he hastily ordered the Mages, who were mechanically launching Elemental Missiles, to stop. ’According to the battle in the video, our Defense Shields won’t last much longer.’
Sure enough, the moment the Mages ceased their attack, the next volley of quills from the Steel-backed Porcupines flew over. When it struck the shield, the accumulated damage from multiple hits caused this volley’s damage to exceed the shield’s remaining value, and it shattered instantly.
Fortunately, the Mages weren’t in the middle of channeling spells. They immediately recast their shields, and no one was hurt. One after another, they patted their chests in lingering fear and looked at Ah Pu with adoration, awed by his foresight.
Seeing that their volley had failed, the Steel-backed Porcupines let out a few disappointed snorts, then settled down to quietly await the Northern Expedition Legion’s next move.
’It really is them!’ Ah Pu’s expression darkened. Based on his memories of the video, these porcupines were not to be trifled with. As Legendary-grade specialized tanks, not only were their abilities absurd, but their levels were also high. ’Given the current state of the Northern Expedition Legion’s soldiers, it’ll be incredibly difficult to break through them.’
’But... they’re just going to let us attack?’
"Yes, my lord."
A glint flashed in Ah Pu’s eyes. He leaned over and whispered instructions into the ear of a nearby Core Lord.
A flicker of pleased surprise crossed the lord’s eyes. He nodded and ran toward the rear of the column.
He soon returned, leading several thousand soldiers.
The soldiers ran directly behind the Steel-backed Porcupines and launched their assault.
Seeing that the Northern Expedition Legion hadn’t learned its lesson and was still sending ordinary soldiers to attack, the Steel-backed Porcupines erupted in laughter.
The Vanguard Army’s commander, not understanding the strategy, tried to persuade Ah Pu to call the soldiers back and avoid a pointless sacrifice.
"Lord Mei, those porcupines aren’t afraid of close-quarters combat!"
"Be patient. Just watch."
In less than a minute, the quills on the Steel-backed Porcupines’ backs regrew. A single volley shot down all the overconfident soldiers, killing them instantly.
Under the cover of the fallen soldiers’ bodies, Eye Demons detached themselves and crawled onto the backs of the Steel-backed Porcupines.
"Snort, snort... brother, I see an Eye Demon."
"You’ve got one on you, too."
"Haha, me too!"
The Steel-backed Porcupines noticed the Eye Demons, but instead of being afraid, they started calling out cheerfully.
Back in October, the laboratories in Lin Yu’s domain had experimented with the effects of Eye Demon parasitism on high-grade creatures. The Steel-backed Porcupines knew that it took a significant amount of time for an Eye Demon to parasitize a creature of a higher grade than itself.
"Hmm... It feels like a mosquito."
"It’s a little itchy!"
"Oink, it actually feels kinda nice."
"Alright, stop messing around. Go notify the Death Devourers. We can’t let these things actually latch on. They’re not Symbiotic Eye Demons; there’s no benefit to getting parasitized by them."
(The attribute bonus from an Eye Demon has no effect on a creature of a higher grade.)
a Steel-backed Porcupine grunted in their porcine tongue.
One of the Steel-backed Porcupines that wasn’t being targeted quickly ran to the rear, found the tree stumps the Death Devourers were disguised as, and explained the situation.
Immediately, over a hundred Death Devourers rose to their feet. They moved into the forest near the Steel-backed Porcupines and, under the cover of darkness, released a deathly energy.
A Death Mist, formed from the grayish-white deathly energy, silently materialized around the Steel-backed Porcupines. In the darkness, the members of the Northern Expedition Legion didn’t notice its appearance.
Enveloped by the deathly energy, the Eye Demons discovered in horror that their bodies were rapidly withering away. Within moments, they had turned to dust.
Once all the Eye Demons were dead, the Death Devourers retracted the deathly energy. They retreated back into the forest, burrowed into the ground, and once again disguised themselves as tree stumps.
Farther to the rear, Yuan Xiaobo, Amuti, and Manqiluo confirmed that the main body of the Northern Expedition Legion had arrived. They once again commanded the Druids to begin their coordinated spellcasting, targeting the markers they had left behind to fire their abilities blindly from an extreme range.
Back with the Northern Expedition Legion, Ah Pu and the other parasitized lords were still waiting for the Eye Demons they had dispatched to take effect. ’Once an Eye Demon gets onto a living, breathing creature, it can always find a way to take root. Even if parasitizing a high-grade creature takes time, eventually, one of them will succeed.’